Biography for
Cary Elwes More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

26 October 1962, London, England, UK

Birth Name

Ivan Simon Cary Elwes

Height

6' (1.83 m)

Mini Biography

Cary Elwes is the third son born to interior designer/shipping heiress Tessa Kennedy and the late portrait painter Dominick Elwes, and is the brother of producer/agent Cassian Elwes and artist Damian Elwes. He was born and raised in London and attended Harrow. After graduating from Harrow, he moved to the US and studied acting at Sarah Lawrence College. He left school after several years to begin his film career. Cary is well respected by colleagues and fans alike and considered by many to be one of the finest young actors working today. He is interested in history and says, "It's deliberate that a lot of my films have been period pieces". He is politically active for causes he believes in, such as protecting the environment and helping Native American peoples. He is married to Lisa Marie Kurbikoff, a stills photographer.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Amy L. Cheetham

Mini Biography

Comes from a long-established recusant English family on his father's side. Several prominent Catholic clerics are among his relatives, including Fr. Luke Cary-Elwes, Dom Columba Cary-Elwes, and Dom Cuthbert Cary-Elwes. His paternal great-grandfather was Chamberlain to the Pope. Cary (the surname "Cary-Elwes" was shortened to "Elwes" in some branches of the family) was an altar boy at London's Brompton Oratory, although he did not attend a Catholic high school. His mother, Tessa Kennedy (now Kastner), is of Anglo-Irish and Serbo-Croatian extraction, on her paternal and maternal sides, respectively.

IMDb Mini Biography By: rms125a@hotmail.com

Spouse

Lisa Marie Kurbikoff

(2000 - present) 1 child

Trivia

Became engaged in Paris to Lisa Marie Kurbikoff. [12 December 1997]

He has had cameo appearences in several movies that his brother, Cassian Elwes, produced such as The Chase (1994) and Never on Tuesday (1988).

Stepson of Elliott Kastner.

Brother of Cassian Elwes and Damian Elwes.

His recurring character on "The X Files" (1993)'s 9th season, FBI Assistant Director Brad Follmer, is named after the show's creator/executive producer Chris Carter's assistant, Brad Follmer.

His great grandfather (on his father's side) was a chamberlain to the Pope.

Was chosen for the part of Westley in The Princess Bride (1987) after Rob Reiner saw him in Lady Jane (1986). He spent weeks training in fencing with both his left hand and right hand while performing acrobatics.

Last name is pronounced El-wez.

Made his film debut in Marek Kanievska's award-winning drama Another Country (1984). Based on that performance, Cary was chosen by renown Director of The Royal Shakespeare Company, Trevor Nunn, to star opposite Helena Bonham Carter in the highly acclaimed historical epic Lady Jane (1986).

Played a filmmaker 4 times: as John Houseman in Cradle Will Rock (1999), as Fritz Arno Wagner in Shadow of the Vampire (2000), as Fritz Hippler in Uprising (2001) (TV), and as Thomas H. Ince in The Cat's Meow (2001).

Having been a dramatic actor, he had never done a comedy prior to his acclaimed performance in The Princess Bride (1987).

Was a projectionist at school.

As a student in Sarah Lawrence College in 1980, he studied acting, philosophy and history. He also studied German Expressionist Film in college. Despite his parents' wealth, Elwes supplemented his income by working his way through school.

For the video game The Bard's Tale (2004) (VG), he spent at least 20 hours in Los Angeles and London recording studios to bring his title character to life. In order for his character to converse with nonplayable characters in either a 'snarky' or 'nice' tone, both leavened with comic relief, Cary had to record two responses for every interaction - a total of 1,200 lines and a lot of his own script improvising.

His very devout Catholic mother took him to meet Pope John Paul II in the Vatican when Cary was 22 years old. Cary portrayed the young pontiff in the docudrama Pope John Paul II (2005) (TV).

His paternal grandfather was the famous portrait-painter Simon Elwes.

Met his wife Lisa Marie in 1991 at a Malibu chili cook-off.

Is a distant relative of the famous Archaeologist Lord Carnarvon, and a distant nephew of Henry VIII Tudor, King of England, as well as he is a distant nephew of his third wife, Jane Seymour.

Daughter, Dominique, was born on April 24, 2007.

Raised as a Catholic. He was an altar boy at Brompton Oratory in London. His mother, father, and paternal grandfather were also Catholics.

Cousin of Amanda Elwes.

Is an accomplished horseman.

Prepares intensely for most of his acting roles. (For example, for Days of Thunder (1990), he had to rely on practical research to meet the physical demands of playing a race car driver. For his role as Air Force Colonel James Burton in The Pentagon Wars (1998) (TV), he spent a few days in Burton's home interviewing him and poring over his BFV files, and even filing boxes of Burton's Bradley documents and giving every page back to Burton.).

Played a number of villainous roles. His first role as a villain was in Leather Jackets (1992).

Nicknamed "The Next Errol Flynn" by Mel Brooks. Brooks said, "He can do comedy and drama".

Personal Quotes

"I take away something from every role. I'm still learning and that's what life is about." (People 2/6/95)

About his teenage co-star Alicia Silverstone of The Crush (1993): "She's very headstrong. I think she can fight her image all she wants, but ultimately when she reaches full womanhood, I think she'll be quite happy to be called a sex kitten".

I like historical pieces. History was my favorite subject in school, it was the only subject I excelled in. I love the idea of history and the idea that we may have the opportunity to learn from our past mistakes.

On preparing his role as young Karol Wojtyla for Pope John Paul II (2005) (TV): "I was blessed enough to meet Pope John Paul when I was 22 years old in the Vatican; I had that privilege. My mother took me to visit him, and I remember distinctly his incredible charisma and personal charm and his warmth and compassion. You felt it immediately the minute you met him, and that spirit I came away with, having met the man, is something that I've been constantly working on to infuse the character with. My mother is a very devout Catholic. Her criticism will be the one I pay the most attention to."

On his villainous role in Leather Jackets (1992): "I'll tell you something right now. There's a myth about actors saying, 'Oh no, that's not me on screen at all. I'm just acting.' OK, if I were to say to you that's not me, that's fine. And I would tell you that I don't behave like a villain everyday, and that's true, I don't. But to say there's absolutely none of me in there is ridiculous, because it's me playing the part, you know? I wanted to do it because I figured if I kept a part like that inside me too long, I might explode. Dobbs, the guy I play, is amoral and not the kind of man you want to know. But he seduces you into almost thinking he's a good thing. You meet him and think, 'Hey, he's cool.' The scary thing is there are people out there like that in real life."

(On making The Princess Bride) It was a wonderfully supportive set, and that's a great atmosphere for being creative. An atmosphere of fun, is an atmosphere where the mind is more likely to come up with great stuff.

(On first meeting Andre the Giant) I met him at the read-through at the Dorchester Hotel in London. I saw his hand first, through the door. And there was a collective gasp from everyone in the room. The only people who had met him were Rob (Reiner) and [screenwriter] Bill Goldman. This huge smile came in, and everyone got up to meet him. He was huge in Japan, you know. They offered to fly him out there any time, because giants are considered lucky. People would run across the street just to touch him.

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